Disposable container



S 1967 H. P. CLARK DISPOSABLE CONTAINER Filed July .5, 1966 FIG. 3

lNVENTOR H. P. CLARK A T TOR/VEYS United States Patent 3,343,579 DISPOSABLE CONTAINER Hudson P. Clark, Bartlesville, 0kla., assignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed July 5, 1966, Ser. No. 562,847 2 Claims. (Cl. 150-8) This invention relates generally to a disposable flexible plastic container. In one aspect it relates to a container having a wall thickness of less than mils. In another aspect, it relates to a combination comprising a flexible container, a threaded ring circling said container at the top thereof, and a closure adapted to engage the threads of said ring and also the top of said container to thereby form a tight seal between the closure and the top of the container.

There is a decided advantage in having a plastic container which is of suflicient strength to hold paint, liquid detergents, liquid handcreams and the like that can be readily attached to a spraying means for spraying its contents onto various surfaces whereby the container can be thrown away rather than cleaned when it has been emptied. Such a practice limits the use of a container to but one purpose, to wit, storing the material contained therein from the place of packaging to the place of ultimate use. The prior art containers used in such manner were made so that they were either rigid or semirigid in construction as it was thought that this was necessary in order to achieve a tight seal between the container and a closure adapted to engage the top of the container.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a disposable plastic container of such a construction that it is capable of forming a tight seal with a closure means.

It is another object of this invention to provide a flexible container in combination with a closing means which can be firmly attached to a spray means whereby the container can be thrown away after its use and does not have to be cleaned for reuse.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a container having a wall thickness of less than 10 mils which is in combination with a threaded plastic ring adapted to encircle the container and a closure means adapted to engage said ring to form a tight seal with the top of said container.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the following drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows an elevational view of the container of the present invention with the cap removed; and

FIGURE 2 show an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the top of the container encircled by a threaded plastic ring and engaged by a closure means.

FIGURE 3 shows another embodiment of the threaded plastic ring wherein it shows the flange integral with the bottommost thread on said ring.

Briefly, the disposable container of the subject invention comprises a flexible body portion being closed at one end and terminating in an outwardly turned lip at the other end; a semirigid or rigid flange member positioned around said body portion at a predetermined point below said lip; an externally semirigid or rigid threaded ring positioned around said flexible body in a space between the said lip and said flange member and a threaded closure means adapted to engage the threads in said ring and form a tight seal with the top of said body member.

3,343,579 Patented Sept. 26, 1967 With reference to FIGURE 1 there is shown a flexible container 1 having a lower end portion 5 which forms a closed bottom an an upper open ended portion 3. The lower end portion 5 is shown to be of greater diameter than the upper open ended portion 3; however the shape of the container is not critical to the subject concept because of its flexible nature. The upper portion 3 terminates in an outwardly-turned lip 7, the function of which will be described in greater detail hereinafter. This lip 7 extends completely around the periphery of the top of the container 1.

With reference to FIGURE 2, a ring 9 of rigid or semirigid plastic material and having external threads 11 is placed around the flexible body 1 at its upper portion 3 such that the ring is positioned between the lip 7 and a flange 8 which encircles the container 1 at a predetermined distance from said lip 7. The inside diameter of the ring 9 is the same as the outside diameter of the upper portion 3. The upper edge of ring 9 is constructed to notch with the lip 7. The flange 8 is composed of a rigid or semirigid material and its function will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

A screw type closure means 13 is secured to the ring 9 so that its threads match the threads 11 on ring 9. The flange 8 is used to grasp the container while the closure means 13 is being screwed onto ring 9 in order to prohibit the container 1 becoming deformed by the torque created during the screwing of cover means 13 onto the ring 9. The inside of cover means 13 presses the lip 7 of the upper portion 3 tightly against the outer surface of ring 9 thereby insuring a tight seal. The lip 7 is of suflicient diameter to enable it to be drawn or pulled down over the threads 11 on ring 9.

The container 1 because of its flexibility is able to be pulled through the opening in ring 9 in such a manner that the bottom of ring 9 will rest on the top of the flange member 8.

FIGURE 3 shows another embodiment of the invention wherein the flange 8 is integral with the bottom of the threads 11 on ring 9 so that the container 1 is merely drawn through the composite structure and its lip 7 is pulled down over the threads 11 in the composite flange ring structure. This type of an embodiment would permit a greater saving of cost in the manufacture of the disposable portion of the composite structure.

The container can be made from any suitable plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, biaxially oriented polyethylene and polypropylene and it can also be made from copolymers of ethylene and butene-l and suitable polyester compositions. Preferably the wall thickness of the container 1 is maintained below 10 mils in order to insure sufl'icient flexibility of the container. The flange 8, ring 9 and closure means can also be made of the same material as the container body 1; however, these parts must be made so that they have a suflicient amount of rigidity to insure a tight seal.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the depending claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A composite container comprising in combination;

a flexible body portion having a closed portion at one end and an open portion at the other end terminating 3 4 into an outwardly and downwardly turned lip, said body on said ring and the interior of said closure means in order being of a wall thickness suflicient to insure flexibility to to insure a tight seal. the container, a flange member positioned around said 2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the body body portion at a predetermined point below said lip; portion is made of a plastic material having a wall an externally threaded ring positioned around said upper 5 thickness less than 10 mils.

portion of said container in a space between the said lip and the said flange member, said lip depending over said No Tefefeflcfis cltedexternal threads and a threaded closure means adapted to engage the threads in said ring thereby pressing the JOSEPH LECLAIR Pnmary Exammer' lip portion of said container between the external threads 10 F. T. GARRETT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A COMPOSITE CONTAINER COMPRISING IN COMBINATION; A FLEXIBLE BODY PORTION HAVING A CLOSED PORTION AT ONE END AND AN OPEN PORTION AT THE OTHER END TERMINATING INTO AN OUTWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY TURNED LIP, SAID BODY BEING OF A WALL THICKNESS SUFFICIENT TO INSURE FLEXIBILITY TO THE CONTAINER, A FLANGE MEMBER POSITIONED AROUND SAID BODY PORTION AT A PREDETERMINED POINT BELOW SAID LIP; AN EXTERNALLY THREADED RING POSITIONED AROUND SAID UPPER PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER IN A SPACE BETWEEN THE SAID LIP AND THE SAID FLANGE MEMBER, SAID LIP DEPENDING OVER SAID EXTERNAL THREADS AND A THREADED CLOSURE MEANS ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE THREADS IN SAID RING THEREBY PRESSING THE LIP PORTION OF SAID CONTAINER BETWEEN THE EXTERNAL THREADS ON SAID RING AND THE INTERIOR OF SAID CLOSURE MEANS IN ORDER TO INSURE A TIGHT SEAL. 